Rainbow’s 2022 Goals: More fun and money!

Can you believe that it’s already April 2022? Christmas 2021 and Chinese New Year 2022 didn’t seem too long ago.
Truth be told, I’ve just written my goals for 2022. So, if you haven’t planned for 2022 yet, you can still do it!
The year 2022 is finally the year to have a good time. More pleasure with less work! (Hopefully)
There’s no going back to the way things were before. It’s time to make a change if you’re still unhappy at work, in an unhealthy relationship, or with your general lifestyle.
I’m hoping you’ll also share your goals with me as I share mine with you!

Personal Finance Goals for 2022
Money is just a tool to get to my goals.
Even though most of what I share on my TikTok and blog is about personal finance, the truth is that we want money so that we can live the life we want.
We want to generate enough passive income to support our desired living expenses.

1. Grow net worth by 8%
This figure is not impossible to hit, as I am able to generate approximately 12% from my peer-to-peer lending investments.
We should look at properties as a long-term investing strategy.
I plan to sell the unit that’s producing a rental interest of 3.8% within the next 5 years (flip) and reap my capital gains.
I will also increase my rental for the unit which is giving 6.4% rental interest in the next 2 years.
Currently, I’m only renting it out at 6.4% since it’s post-pandemic, and I understand that it’s not easy for my tenants. 
Looking at my current rate of monthly income, saving, and investing, growing my net worth by 8% is absolutely possible.

2. Generate RM6000 in online investment income annually!
That’ll be RM500 per month. Is it doable? I hope so.
Rather than focusing on how much I will generate from my online investments, I’d like to view it as the number of people that will be impacted by my sharing.
A big hug and thank you to you who are reading my blog/emails/watching my Tiktoks.
Let’s be financially free together!

3. Give more money to charity/church/non-profit organizations with a cause.
Currently, I’m giving around 13% of my monthly salary to support people in need.
I love giving and blessing people, especially those whose situations are dire.
I’d like to increase my giving this year to probably around 15 – 20%.
Here are some of the organizations that I support:

  1. Name: Mobilisation Fellowship (M) Bhd
    Bank: Maybank, 5141-9601-8478
    Email: finance.my@om.org
    Website: https://www.facebook.com/OMinMalaysia/
  2. Name: TKPP DESA AMAL JIREH
    In short for: Tabung KEBAJIKAN dan Pendidikan Pertubuhan DAJ
    Bank: Public Bank, 3123 8094 27
    Email: desaamaljireh@gmail.com
    Website: www.daj.org.my

4. Investing in 1 – 2 real estate properties this year.
The real estate market is a little shaky lately.
I am still a firm believer in buying good and valuable real estate properties at a discounted price.
Stocks are volatile, you can see the stock prices deviate by 20% a day and people would either buy/sell stocks crazily; but you don’t generally see people selling (lelong) their properties within a day when the valuation goes down by 20%.
If you’re someone who has a weak heart, probably real estate would be a better investment strategy than stocks.

5. Learning how to invest in the Malaysian / USA stock markets.
Whether it’s stocks or real estate, the key is to own good ones at a lower valuation.
However, I will not purchase IPO ever. Period.
The last IPO I bought didn’t make a single cent, and it’s been more than 6 years already. (I did not listen to Warren Buffet & my father’s advice about IPOs many years ago).
Hopefully, I wouldn’t even lose my capital to that IPO – it’s a tech stock by the way.

6. Learning to invest in cryptocurrencies & NFTs.

Crypto and NFTs are surely a new hype!
I do believe that the digitalization of money in the future is something we couldn’t avoid moving forward.
Think about it, back then people thought that cash is king! The more cash you have on hand, the better it is.
If you’re able to buy a car/house in cash, fabulous!
After that, we slowly move toward credit cards – do you remember older people said “Don’t get a credit card! It’s bad debt?”
(we all know that credit cards can be of good use when managed wisely)
Moving forward, I guess the digitalization of money will become more and more common.
However, in my humble opinion, cryptos and NFTs are very volatile.
Most of the coins and NFTs have lost 90% of their original value. Although people make a lot of money through it, many lost their money too.
Do your own research before investing!

Career Goals for 2022.
I have a full-time job as a Human Resource Executive in a public listed company in Malaysia. Work is tough.
Being a HR isn’t easy as well, given the fact that resignation rates are sky-high. (I’m super grateful to have this opportunity to grow together in this company.)
With that being said, I need to prioritize and manage my time better, I have much on my plate:

  • Manage my portfolio (properties and Peer-to-peer financing).
  • Learning to invest in stocks & cryptos.
  • Building my online business.

1. Level up to be a better HR.
Most people have these perceptions:

  • HR is not their friend.
  • HR only thinks for the benefit of the company.
    I’d love to break that stereotype. Yes, HR does have to think for the company, however, have you ever seen a HR fighting for your rights too as an employee?

2. Work on the side hustle for around 10 hours a week.
As much as I love my stable job, I strongly believe that people should have multiple streams of income.
(If you haven’t started investing yet, you may start with the low risk, low capital Peer-To-Peer investments.)

Read more about my portfolio here.
Therefore, I invest in different classes of assets.
This year, I will also focus on building up my side hustle. Hello, solopreneur/entrepreneur!

3. Create successful templates
In order to be financially free, you need to know your budgeting and spending habits.
Thus, I would like to help you to track your net worth, spending, and budgeting by creating these fabulous excels for you! Stay tuned!

Rainbow’s Life Goals for 2022
Great! We have finance and career goals written. Let’s not forget our own life goals too.

1. Time with family
I was working abroad as a volunteer for almost 2 years. Within those 2 years, the Covid-19 pandemic happened in the second year.
Life was tough.
I waited for many months before I was granted the opportunity to come back to Malaysia, the journey back itself took 11 days! Just imagine transiting for 11 days, no joke.
Anyway, it’s a kind reminder to all that life is unpredictable and time with loved ones is precious.
Never go to sleep angry, always love and forgive.
Spend more time with your loved ones. You never know what will happen tomorrow.

2. Be an athlete
As we grow older, I feel like our bodies are not as active as before.
Rather than pinpointing how much weight you need to lose, being an athlete seems more healthy, tangible, and sustainable!

3. Be a better communicator
One of the best things in life is to be able to clearly communicate your thoughts to yourself first, then to the world.
Writing down and planning ahead seems to help with being a better communicator.

4. Visiting some of my best friends in the USA / Ecuador / Germany / Mexico this year.
Who looks forward to taking vacations this year?! Woohoo!
It’s been wayyyyy too long.

The biggest goal for 2022: Enjoy life and have fun!

I came to the realization that having fun is the best way to achieve your goals! What’s the point of being grumpy anyway?

Enjoy your life, spend time with family, work hard, invest hard, and play harder!

If you never try, you’ll never know (good & legal stuff, I mean).

Readers, what are some of your goals for 2022? Please share them as I’m always looking for ideas and motivation.

This blog is made to discuss ways of being financially free. Sign up to receive complimentary information 🙂 

Millionaire Secrets: Streams of Incomes

millionaire secrets multiple sources of incomes

Do you want to be a millionaire? Yes, you.

The average millionaire has 7 streams of income. Most people? One – a job. 

Shoot.

Most people are OK with only having a job. If not, they go on and create ‘multiple jobs’, like baking and selling cakes, copywriting, video editing, etc.

The only problem is… you have a limited supply of time (which is your greatest asset)

What happens when you stop baking and selling cakes? Do you still earn?

Creating multiple jobs will definitely increase your income, but you’re still trading time for money. 

The streams of incomes.. Woohoo!

Other than having a job or multiple jobs, I have good news for you!

There are 7 income streams that you can have, such as: 

  1. Business Income – Income from businesses or side hustle
  2. Interest Income – Income from savings accounts, Fixed Deposits, Bonds, peer-to-peer lending, etc.
  3. Investment Income – Dividend Income from stocks / REITs
  4. Rental income – Rental Income from real estate
  5. Capital gains – Income from selling assets that have gone up in value. e.g. a business, stocks, a house, etc
  6. Royalty Income – Royalties from owning the rights to something.
  7. Earned income – Income from employment aka ‘job’

Millionaire status debunked.

I am personally not interested in achieving the ‘millionaire’ status. Paper wealth is (generally) good for nothing. 

It may make you feel more superior, but honestly, if that’s your goal, then you’ve probably gotten the term ‘financial independence’ wrongly. 

Looking at the seven different income sources, we should only interested in five of them.

Within these 5 income streams, they center around three major concepts: 

  1. Acquiring assets (Real estate, stocks/businesses, etc.)
  2. Having positive cash flow (either monthly/quarterly/yearly)
  3. Assets increase in value.

There are two income sources in which we should NOT be interested in as much:

  1. Earned income – a job (because I don’t want to continue trading my time for money)
  2. Capital gains – Income from selling assets.

However, the only time we should ever sell my assets are:

  1. When there’s a better opportunity to increase my percentage of investments.
  2. When we make losses – admit our mistake and move on. 

Read Here: Gain 5% of more annualized returns, interested?Blood and sweat

Most people spent their lives acquiring a monthly paycheck.

This paycheck is earned through their time, literally their lives… aka blood and sweat.

Other than just trading time for money, you are losing the opportunity to create more streams of income. 

Whether you have a cleaning job or a professional career, in some sense you are only paid when you work.

This does not happen when you invest or have a business running without needing you.

You can literally earn money while sleeping by having investments/businesses.

In my humble opinion, investment is vital. 

It helps lessen the burden of ‘what if’s.

“What if we can’t survive through this month? What if our loved ones fall sick and we can’t bring them to the doctor?”

It sucks seeing people dear to your heart suffer and you can’t do much about it due to limited finances. 

The main reason why you need to invest is that it has the potential to reduce your need for earned income. 

Once you have enough monthly positive cash flow (which is generated from your investments), you have the choice to choose what you want to do in your life.

Read that again.

First, acquire assets.

Then, let the assets generate positive cash flow to feed your monthly living expenses.

And you’re free!

Formula: Invest in assets > assets generate positive cash flow for your living expenses > you’re financially independent. 

You don’t need to clock in and out and worry what your boss would say anymore.

If you find purpose in working in your job, continue working! 

If you find purpose in doing something else, go do it!

Or, you can choose to retire early. 

Most importantly, you now have TIME.

  • Time to be with family, friends, and loved ones.
  • Time to travel and explore places.
  • Time to learn and grow.
  • Time to enjoy your hobbies without a schedule.

By focusing on building income streams, you unlock the doors to a whole new world of possibilities.

And this cannot be found through a job/monthly salary only.

If you’re reading this, I hope you take this seriously and start investing.

Let time be your friend in investing because you can compound wealth! The same amount of $400 monthly makes a big difference: $192K vs $1.25 Mil

The three most harmful addictions are heroin, carbohydrates and a monthly salary. – Nassim Nicholas Taleb. 

9 Thoughts on How To Retire Early? When I’m Only In My 20s Now

how to retire early

Retiring in 10 years – When I’m now only in my 20s.

I decided that I shall retire in 10 years. (I will continue working if I love my job)

According to my calculations, growing ‘a nest egg’ a.k.a retirement funds that would allow me to retire in 10 years is more than doable based on my current salary, savings, and investing rate.

(and I’m still young after 10 years!)

Even though I’ve only been working for less than 3.5 years, it was obvious to me that I do not want to slave myself for a monthly paycheck for 40 years.

So I decided to change it.

This gives me the freedom – I can choose to go to work. Or I can do whatever I want to.

And I want to achieve financial independence through investing in something which gives me 8% returns yearly.

Read here: My Portfolio with Funding Societies (How I made RM5.9K passively with RM0 defaults) 

Most importantly, I only want to invest in assets which I could sleep peacefully at night.

The Road Map Towards Financial Independence:

One important thing I’ve learned about financial independence is that one must enjoy the journey of getting towards financial independence.

Because financial independence is not just a number/goal to hit.

Not to millions.

But financial independence is a lifestyle and a decision.

Here are my own thoughts on achieving financial independence lifestyle:

  1. Live below your means.
    • High-income earners can be broke too if they spend more than what they earn.
  2. Save before you spend.
  3. Pay off the credit card in full.
    • Banks love people who never pay their credit cards in full!
    • Hello, you’re charged at 18% interest per year by paying only the minimum required/not paying fully. 
  4. Start Investing NOW.
  5. Take care of your health – physically, mentally, and emotionally. 
  6. Having time is the biggest freedom.
  7. Family, friends, and amazing relationships are far more important than money.
  8. Most people think that money/being rich is the goal… But for me, freedom is the goal. Money is just a tool to help me reach ‘freedom’.
  9. The fastest way to double your net worth is to stop buying sh*t to impress people and to stop getting into lifestyle debt.

The next question is, what about you?
What are your goals?

And what action steps are you planning/taking to reach there?

The Monk and The Minister

Financial Freedom Doing What I want

The Monk and The Minister

OK, let’s get this money/finance site up and running. Let’s start off with one of my favorite classic parables: 

Two best buddies from childhood grew up and go their separate ways.

One becomes a modest monk, while the other becomes a wealthy and influential king’s minister.

Rich Finances

They finally got to meet up after all these years. The minister (in his extravagant clothes) takes pity on the frail, shabby monk as they meet up. 

Monk Finances

In an attempt to assist, he says: “You know, you wouldn’t have to survive on rice and beans if you can just learn to cater to the king.”

In response, the monk says: You wouldn’t have to cater to the king if you can somehow learn to live on rice and beans.”

Most of us fall somewhere in the middle. 

[In this context, being a monk doesn’t necessarily mean that you are of a certain religion, I know I’m not gonna be a monk, per se.]

What Do You Actually Want In Life? 

For me, having the ability to do what I want in life without having to ‘work’ forever sounds amazing. 

How about you?